Dry cleaning apparatus



Feb. 24, 1953 E. E. HALLANDER 2,629,243

DRY CLEANIm APPARATUS Filed Oct. 7, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 24, 1953 E- E. HALLANDER DRY CLEANING APPARATUS Filed 001;. 7, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 24, 1953 E. E. H'ALLANDER 2,629,243

DRY CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 7, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Feb. 24, 1953 E, HALLANDER 2,629,243

DRY CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 7, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 arwfy- Patented Feb. 24, 1953 DRY CLEANING APPARATUS.

Elvin E. Hallander, West Caldwell, N. 5., assignor,

by mesne assignments, ,to International Projector Corporation, Bloomfield, N. J a corporation of Delaware Application October 7, 1947, Serial No. 778,424

3 Claims.

This invention relates in general to apparatus for washing and drying clothes or similar articles, and more particularly contemplates apparatus comprising a washer, an extractor and a drier.

One object of the invention is to provide apparatus of this character which will include a normal and improved construction, combination and arrangement of a combined washer and extractor, a tumbler or drier, and a common housing whereby the washer and extractor and the tumbler shall be accessible from the exterior of the housing and the clothes or materials being washed can be directly transferred from the washer and extractor to one opening in the tumbler and removed from another opening in the tumbler while the tumbler is'rotating, thus permitting continuity of and simple operations which result in high speed and efiiciency.

Another object is to provide a tumbler or drier which shall be devoid of shafts or trunnions so as to provide a maximum of capacity for materials being dried, cause. a minimum of interference with the movement of the materials in the tumbler during the drying operation, and allow easy and quick insertion and removal of materials or clothes to be cleaned.

A further object is to provide a tumbler or drier which shall embody novel and improved features of construction whereby the articles or materials to be dried can be easily and quickly inserted into one end of the tumbler andv removed from the other end while the tumbler is in operation so as to permit rapid and continuous drying.

Other objects are to provide a novel and improved construction and combination of a tumbler drum and a housing therefor having door openings and doors so that the articles to be dried can be inserted into the drum through one of said door openings and removed from the other door opening while the drum is in motion; to provide novel and improved means for driving the tumbler and for easily and quickly starting and. stopping operation thereof, and to obtain other advantages and results that will be brought out by the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a dry cleaning apparatus embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view, approximately on the plane of the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal the plane of the line 8-8 of Figure 2;

Figure 9 is a similar view, on the plane of the line 9-9 of Figure 2, and

'Figure 10 is a transverse vertical sectional view, on the line HJI0 of Figure 3.

Specifically describing the illustrated embodiment of the invention, and with particular reference to Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings, my apparatus includes a washer or extractor, or a combined washer and extractor A and a drier generally designated B. I prefer to use a combined washer and extractor wherein the articles or materials are first Washed in a rotating basket or container and are then drained or partially dried by elevation of the basket or container and rapid continuous rotation thereof which centrifugally separates the liquid from the materials being cleaned. As shown on the drawing, this washer and extractor has an opening in its top normally closed by a cover 5, which is shown in closed position by solid lines, and may be opened or swung upwardly into open position, as shown by dot and dash lines. The details of construc tion of the washer and extractor form no part of my invention and need not further to be described.

The drier B comprises a tumbler drum 2 which is mounted to rotate about a horizontal axis and has a coaxial opening 3 at one end and another coaxial opening 4 at the other end. One of the openings, in the present instance the opening 3,

, is the receiving opening and preferably is smaller in diameter than the interior of the drum, so as the transfer of -.'the articles from.the.extractor.

to the drier....

The washer and extractor and the drier are enclosed in a common housing C which has front.

and end walls 6 and 1, respectively, disposed in angular relation to each other.

ing of the drum, is a door opening. 8 having-.a suitable door 9. The door may be of any suitable form, but preferably is a flexible sliding ing 3 in close juxtaposition to the opening of the v In theliro'ntj. wall and closely adjacent to the opening .of the. washer and extractor and theireceiving open door, as shown, comprising a plurality of hingedly connected strips or slats l whose ends are slidable in guideways H in the housing. The door has a suitablehandgrip 1:2 formanipulatingit.

When the door 9 is open, .theloperator can easilyreach intothe housingandtransfer the articles or materialsunder treatment from theextractor to the drum.

Oneend-h'wall .1 of the .housingis closely ad-" iacent the dischargeend. of .the..drum 2 and has a door opening #3 and a door. .14 therefor, said opening beingin alignment ...with'. the tumbling.

drum and the door extendingtransversely. of said opening in closely spacedrelationto the endof the drumso as normally. to prevent .articles from falling out of the. drumawhenthe door .is closed...

The. door thus serves .both.,as .a closure for the door opening [3 and to preventaccidental dis-. lodgment of the articles.undertreatmentfrom the drum. Any suitable door may .be'used, but, as shown, the door comprisesa circular plate i5 hingedly connected .at It .to .thehousing and having a suitable. latch I! for holding it in closed position.

With this construction, when .it is vdesire'dto remove the articlesor materials from the drum, the operator need only to open thedoor l5,.reach into the drum, and pull the .articles therefrom, and this may be donewhile the drumis rotating. At the same time, ,other articles may be deposited into the drum through the receiving opening.

It will be understood by those skilled in the. art that the cleaning fluids utilized in dry clean-.. ing operationsare highly volatile and. sometimes.

toxic, and consequently,. I provide means. for

withdrawing such fumes. from the. housing .or

for preventing the escape'of fumesfrom the housing;

whose inlet communicates with the interior or the housing andwhose outlet is connected .to a conduit 2! for leading. the fumes out of the.

housing. v

Peripheral mounting .and' drivingmeansns provided for the. drying drum sothat. the drum. shall be devoid of all'trunnions and shafts'that.

would interfere with the handling of the materials during the drying operation. As shown,

7 two parallel horizontal shafts 23 and 24 are jour-..

naled-in bearings '25 on a frame 28 at opposite sides of a vertical diametrical plane .of the drum.. The shaft 23xhas two rollers .21 keyedthereon.

and rotatable. therewith, while the. shaft 24.has

rollers .28 freely. rotatable. thereon, the .rollers.

As shown, this: means. comprises a .cen-... trifugal pump l8 driven by an-electric motor 19,.

upon rotation thereof the rollers 21 will frictionally drive the drum. while the rollers 28 will idly rotate on their shaft 24; and desirably, all of the rollers are circumferentially grooved to receive circumferential tracks 29 on the drum.

For driving the shaft 23, I have shown a clutch. disktil keyed thereon with which cooperates a combined clutch and pulley member 31 which is freely rotatable 'on the shaft, as best .shown in Figure 8, and is driven by a belt 32 from a pulley 33 which is rigidly connected to a large. pulley '34 that is in turn driven through a belt 35 from a pulley 36 on the shaft of an electric' motor 18 which is mounted on the frame D beneath'thetumbling drum. The two pulleys 331' and 34 are freely rotatable on the shaft 24.

For causingengagement and disengagement of the pulley-clutch member 3| with the clutch disk 3%,"1 have shown a thrust rod 38 which is screw threaded at 39 in a bracket 40 that is secured on the frame. 26; thetouter endof said thrust rod having-a handle 4| for rotating the rod; while 'theother end has rigidly secured thereto a thrust-head=or bushing- 42 that is adapted to abut the pulley-clutch member 3| at'the' side'thereof opposite the clutch disk,'as

shown in'Figure-S. The shaft 23 has a proper thrust bearing.

Normal1y,-the thrust rod 38 will be in position to release the pulley-clutch member 3| from contact with'the clutch disk 39, as shown in Figure 8, so that the tumbling drum is at rest although the motormay be continuously running. When it is desired to start rotation of the drum, the thrust rod 38 is rotated by the handle M to force the thrust head A2 against the pullay-clutch member "3! and cause frictional contact thereof with the clutch disk 30 and thereby start rotation of the roller shaft 26 so as to drive the rollers 21 and thus rotate the tumbling drum. To quickly stop rotation of the tumbling drum, it is merely necessary to rotate the thrust rod32 in'the other direction to release the pulley-clutch member 31 from the clutch disk 30. From the foregoing; it will be observed that my invention permits the rapid and efiicient transfer of articles'being cleaned from an extractor or washer to-a drier with a minimum of escape of fumes and with a minimum of manual efiort. Also, the'articles to be-dried can be easily. and quickly tossed into one end of-the drum. and removed from the other end of the drum while the drum is rotated, due to the co-- axial relation of the openings 3' and t to the drum bodiment of my invention,..and..that many modi fications..and changes may be madeinthe construction of the apparatus within the spirit and scope of .the..-invention.

I claim;

1. A dryecleaning.apparatus comprising. an

extractor. having .anopening for insertion and.

removal of articles, a tumbler cylinder rotatable about a horizontal axisandhaving a coaxial charging opening at one end which is exposed close to said opening of said extractor so that an operator with his hands can lift articles through said extractor opening and directly transfer and deposit them into said charging opening of the tumbler cylinder, a common housing enclosing said extractor and said tumbler cylinder and having angularly related front and end Walls, said front wall being disposed parallel to the axis of said tumbler cylinder, a door opening and a door therefor adjacent both said extractor opening and said charging opening of the tumbler cylinder to provide access through j said door opening by the hands of the operator simultaneously to said extractor opening and to said charging opening of the tumbler cylinder, peripheral supporting and driving means for rotating said tumbler cylinder so that said tumbler cylinder and said charging opening are unobstructed throughout their areas to permit easy and quick passage of articles therethrough, and means for drawing fresh air through said door opening and around said extractor and tumbler cylinder and for exhausting foul air from the housing.

2. A dry-cleaning apparatus comprising an extractor having an opening for insertion and removal of articles, a hollow cylindrical perforate tumbler drum having a coaxial charging opening at one end and a coaxial discharging opening at the opposite end, peripheral supporting and driving means mounting said tumbler drum for rotation about a horizontal axis with said charging opening exposed close to said opening of said extractor so that an operator with his hands can lift articles from said extractor opening and directly transfer and deposit them into said charging opening of the tumbler drum while the latter is rotating, a common housing enclosing both said extractor and said tumbler drum and having angularly related front and end walls, a door opening and a door therefor in said front wall of the housing adjacent and to provide access by the hands of the operator simultaneously to said extractor opening and to said charging opening of the tumbler drum, a door opening in said end wall adjacent and in alignment with the discharge opening of said tumbler drum, and a door in said door opening adjacent said discharging opening of said tumbler drum which when closed extends transversely of said discharging opening in closely spaced relation to the end of the tumbler drum to prevent escape of articles from said tumbler drum and which when open permits removal of the articles from said tumbler drum through said door opening, and means for drawing fresh air into the housing through each door opening and around said extractor and tumbler drum when the door is open and for continuously exhausting foul air from the housing.

3. A dry-cleaning apparatus as defined in ciaim 2 wherein the charging end of said drum has an outwardly projecting frusto-conical wall, said charging opening is disposed in said wall and is of a smaller diameter than the interior of the drum while said discharging opening is of approximately the same diameter as the interior of the drum.

ELVIN E HALLANDER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in. the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 830,435 Hills Sept. 4, 1906 1,262,416 Warrick Apr. 9, 1918 1,595,659 How Aug. 10, 1926 2,979,280 Couch May 4, 1937 2,144,157 Jorgenson Jan. 17, 1939 2,262,186 Lindberg Nov. 11, 1941 2,283,612 Perry May 19, 1942 2,313,225 Davis Mar. 9, 1943 2,451,403 Newbery Oct. 12, 1948 

